Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2006 18:07:32 -0500 [03:07:32 PM PST]
From: M.F.
To: libra4@librarising.com
Reply-To: M.F.
Subject: Astrological Ruler of Virgo

Hello,
I found your site very interesting and I especially liked the picture on the main page.
I noticed that you have developed an astrological system where every one of the 12 signs has its own unique planetary ruler but that the true ruling planet for Virgo is still unknown. Recently a new planetoid was discovered near Pluto's orbit which will probably be classified as a planet because it is slightly larger then Pluto. Due to the planets orbit (it goes inside of Pluto's orbit for part of its orbit but outside of it for another part) the astronomers that discovered it have considered naming it Persephone after the Greek goddess. In Greek mythology Persephone is the (forcibly abducted) wife of Hades (Roman Pluto) who spends six months each year underground close to Hades. The new planet is on an orbit that could be described in similar terms; half of the time it is in the vicinity of Pluto and half of the time much further away. However the name Persephone has already been taken by an asteroid as has its Roman counterpart Proserpina so it is unlikely that those names will be used. The discoverers of the planet have already submitted their proposal for a name to the International Astronomical Union but it will not be revealed until they have finished their deliberations and decided on a name for it. Personally I think the name they submitted was Kore which is an alternate name for Persephone that has not been taken, like Orcus which is an alternate name for Hades and was used for another recently discovered planetoid. In any case I think all of this indicates a strong Virgonian influence especially since this is the first planet that will probably be named after a goddess instead of a god. This new planet as the ruler of Virgo would complete the whole Zodiac nicely with the Earth ruling Libra. For more information on this new planet you can visit:

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/
Hopefully you have found this information useful.

Response:

Dear M.F.,

It's refreshing to come across a letter like yours after all the spam I get. I'm well aware of the exciting new planetary discovery(Xena/2003UB313) and have devoted a page to it on my site(Space/Planet X section: Tenth Planet Watch). Like everyone interested in astronomy/astrology, I'm following the discovery very closely and speculating intensely as to where it might fit into the astrological rulership scheme. It does look, in all likelihood, that it will be accepted as a planet, due largely to it's size. The only thing that may stop it from becoming so, is if it is some huge planet-sized ship rather than a planet(yes, such ships exist!).

Like Scorpios who now proudly have their own planetary ruler, Virgo's also want in. They're tired of sharing Mercury with Gemini. The problem is, there are so many candidates for the true ruler of Virgo, and so many name possibilities for the candidate. On my other page entitled The Virgo Mystery, I mention the possibilities, including Kore -the name you have mentioned. I believe Vulcan is another name that has not been taken but which is being reserved for an intra-Mercurial body. Perhaps Vulcan is not intra-Mercurial at all!

Yes we need another goddess planet -there are too many male ones! There were actually six male planets and six female ones in our origial solar system scheme. Unfortunately, some of the female ones such as Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto have been given masculine names(a reflection of our male-dominated society). The Sun and Moon don't even have proper names, as they are not recognized as "planets" by the astronomers, but were definitely considered planets by the Sumerians.

Astrology and our concept of the cosmos needs a lot fixing up -but we're slowly getting there. I am personally convinced that eventually(as of old) there will be one major planetary ruler for every sign. This is one of my fondest hopes, for untill then, we will continue to be or feel incomplete. To know youself(and others) fully and how we fit into the scheme of things is perhaps the greatest purpose of astrology.

I hope the International Astronomical Union makes up its mind soon(they're so slow!), so we can get on with the wonderful buisness of astrology. If 2003 UB313 doesn't make it as our tenth astronomical planet, then perhaps our binary or companion sun will. The idea of a binary with a period equal to the precession of the equinoxes(24,000 to 26,000 years) is a fascinating possibilty. This would explain the Great World Ages we go through and the ups and downs of civilization throughout history. A lot of astronomers and non-astronomers alike are suspecting a massive body in late tropical Sagittarius as the likey area for this binary. I too suspect this location, because of the strong and unnacounted Sagittarian influence I am observing in so many charts. If we do have a binary and it has an astrological influence, then the Earth/Ascendant and this Age-definer would become the two most indentifying features in a chart, the first very personal, and the second very collective. People would then say, "I am a Capricorn(Earth/Ascendant) in the Age of Sagittarius(binary).

Finally there is the Midheaven, which I still don't have a firm hande of in terms of its astrological influence or significance. The Midheaven is the celestial sphere as opposed to the terrestial sphere -which is signified by the Ascendant or Rising sign. In my works, I have linked it to a (hollow) planet's inner sun. It may well be that the twelfth astrological planet we are looking for is an inner rather than extra-terrestial reality, especially if one considers the geocentric approach rather than the heliocentric one.

So which is it? Planet X? Our Binary? The Midheaven? Some other surprise? I really don't know. It seems there are too many possibilities and that our twelve-sign zodiac may have to expand to accomodate them. A sixteen or twenty-four sign zodiac? who knows!?

Follow-Up

Subject: RE: Astrological Ruler of Virgo
From: "M.F." Date: Sat, January 7, 2006 5:02 pm
To: libra4@librarising.com

Another thing I have been thinking about is what the glyph or symbol for the new planet (or even some of the other newly discovered planetary bodies) could be.

A good idea I think would be to use one of the unused alchemical symbols for the elements since they are already used for the other planets (e.g. Sun-Gold, Moon-Silver, Venus-Copper, Mercury-Mercury, Mars-Iron, Jupiter-Tin, Saturn-Lead). To see a list of these alchemical symbols you can go to http://www.chemsoc.org/viselements/pages/alchemist/alchemy.html. Note however that there is more then one symbol for each element. I think the symbols for antimony or arsenic might be good or maybe even those for phosphorus or magnesium.

Response

Dear M.F.,

I like the antimony symbol. It's a little like Neptune and Pluto combined, which is pertinent when you consider that xena/2003ub313 comes close to both orbits at perihelion. The curved spikes give it a Virgoan flavour -they remind me of the ear of corn the virgin carries with her. Thanks for the interesting link!